Uttarakhand BJP chief Madan Kaushik in Delhi today amid speculations on CM choice

By Asheesh Goyal
Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], March 13 (ANI): With suspense over the next Uttarakhand Chief Minister prevailing after the loss of Pushkar Singh Dhami from the Khatima seat, state unit Bharatiya Janata Party chief Madan Kaushik is heading to the national capital on Sunday for consultations with the top brass of the party.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Irrigation Minister Satpal Maharaj and Cabinet minister Subodh Uniyal also left for Delhi while Union Minister Ajay Bhatt met National General Secretary (Organization) BL Santhosh yesterday.
"The decision for the selection of the next Uttarakhand CM may take some time. These leaders are saying that the decision will be taken after Uttarakhand election in-charge and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya submit the report of Uttarakhand poll results to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah," one of the state BJP leaders told ANI.
Uttarakhand outgoing Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami resigned to pave way for the formation of the new government in the state after the conclusion of the Assembly elections.
Following his resignation, around seven MLAs have met Dhami to offer to vacate their seats for him to contest for re-election in the event he's elected leader of the legislature party of the BJP in the state. In addition, Ganesh Joshi and Arvind Pandey, who were Dhami's Cabinet colleagues, also announced their support to him.
Dhami was defeated by the Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri by a margin of 6,579 votes. Dhami got a total of 41,598 votes with a vote share of 44.8 per cent as against Kapri who got 48,177 with a huge vote share of 51.89 per cent.
The BJP won the popular mandate for the second consecutive term in Uttarakhand, bagging 47 seats in the 70-member Assembly. (ANI)